Waiting for the loudspeaker at his mosque in northern Phnom Penh to call him to prayer, San Him recalled his return from Mecca and compared his welcome to a rock and roll star.
“Hundreds of people came to greet me yesterday,” the 54-year-old farmer and small store owner said, waving his arms and gesturing wildly. “They asked me how I ate, and what I had done.”
San Him was one of a handful of Cambodia’s Muslims who got to travel to Mecca for the hajj, or sacred pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of his faith.
It was a journey he nearly did not return from though, he said.
During the weeklong festivities, 35 people died when the throngs of faithful stampeded, San Him said.
“It was too crowded. Several died when they fell on the ground and other people stepped on them. But our Cambodian people are fine. We protected each other, holding onto one another’s shoulders,” San Him said.
Each year, millions of Muslims the world over travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of the religion’s central prophet, Mohammed, who is buried there.
Ousmas Isahork, 60, did not witness the tramplings, and spoke only positively of the hajj, his first journey to Mecca. Islam calls for all able-bodied members to travel to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.
From beginning to end, it was a great experience, said Ousmas Isahork, wearing a red checkered skull cap and sitting cross-legged on a wicker mat at the Cambodian Islamic Relations office, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
“There was no problem. I’m fine. We had a tour guide that made it easy. We had a bus to pick us up, good food, and an air-conditioned shelter,” Ousmas Isahork said.
Most of the 200-plus Cambodian Muslims, or Cham, who made the hajj this year did so thanks to a grant from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.
Each of Cambodia’s 200 mosques held a raffle to select the lucky winner, Ahvou Paka said. His son was one of them.
Although Ahvou Paka, 52, has not been to Mecca, he said those who have been have seen their lives changed, if only in subtle ways. “Those who visited Mecca became more serious. Some people used to drink beer, but later on, they didn’t,” he said.
For the Cham, who comprise about 2 percent of Cambodia’s population, the hajj helps reinforce religious ties in the community, said Haji Asman, 67, who changed his named to Haji after his pilgrimage last year.
“The kids have been taught about the hajj, so they know already,” he said.
Sometimes the ties extend beyond the local community.
“I met people from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, many places,” Ousmas Isahork said.
For San Him, the best moment of the 12-day journey was when he visited Mohammed’s grave, even though it was “very cold.”
He said he hopes to be reunited with a souvenir soon.
“I brought some water from a spring in Mecca,” he said, pointing into the air and jerking his hand. “I’m waiting for it to come through Thailand.”
